Hate to Love

7

Alice

I was still shocked by what Julian said at the arena but I could see that he meant every word. I sighed under the shower because I still had mixed feelings about it all.

I agreed to come live with him but I did not know the slightest thing about him because I spent those last years hating his guts. Maybe living together would help. I would see if truly we could move forward or not. Maybe Jasper had been right and I would need to shed the past.

I put on the clothes he gave me that were way too big for me and exited the bathroom. I found him in the kitchen and he seemed upset. Was he regretting asking me to live with him already?

"What happened?" I asked.

"Veronica was here." He said through tight lips.

Oh. Maybe she tried to make him back off. She knew how much he hurt me.

"Did she ask you to reject me?"

"Yes. But not as, I thought, out of concern for you. She told me she loved me." He frowned.

That stunned me for a second. Strangely, this statement made me boil with rage. How could she try to break my mate and I apart? I knew she loved him of course, but it still felt like a betrayal that she would do that to me. We had a complicated relationship but he was still my mate. We both knew what it meant to have a true mate. How could she do this to me?

"Are you… Upset?" He asked careful.

"Yes but not at you. How could she do that… you're my mate…" I answered, frowning. "I know that we aren't behaving like normal mates should but... Still..."

He seemed thrown off balance but then he pulled me in a tight embrace. That seemed to calm me down when I would have bit his head off a few days ago. It was weird to be in his arms now when all we did was avoid each other. It seemed by the way his body relaxed against mine, that he had been repressing those feelings for a long time and he was finally letting himself experience them.

My wolf was literally snarling inside my head that our friend would do that to us but Julian was the one actually growling. He always was the annoyed type but it was refreshing that he was not angry at me.

"I told her never to show her face here again." He said harshly.

I was shocked that he would react like this but I also expected it, Julian had always been extreme. I could not help a nervous laugh to escape my lips. He eyed me as if I had grown a second head.

"Sorry." I said. "She must have been so hurt that you would say that but somehow I think that’s funny. I’m a terrible friend…"

"She’s the terrible friend." He countered. "No friend would try to break the couple of her friend, the fated couple even."

"Yeah you’re probably right." I sighed. "It hurts that she would do that but that’s just how much she loves you really."

I knew how much she loved him too and how often she told me that she wished he was her mate. I used to compete on her with that when we were kids but after my brother disappeared, I just wanted to be as far away from Julian as possible.

"I don’t care, she’s not my mate. You are and that’s all that matters to me." He shrugged.

"You’re weirdly romantic." I said amused.

It had been a while since I saw that playful side of him. I did not realise how much I missed it until now.

"I'm romantic, you’ll see." He smirked.

He was smiling and I had not seen that expression on him for a long time, not directed at me anyway. Maybe we could do this.

"You’ll have to convince me then." I said.

"We have all the time for that." He answered.

I took his hand in mine and he laced our fingers together. We walked to my house and I told my parents about us. My mom cried but she was happy for us even though she knew it would not be easy. My father was less happy because that would mean he would not stop being the Gamma until he found someone to replace him. He was very practical like that.

"I hope you’ll be happy together." My mom said. "You deserve it."

She always liked Julian even after I told him what he said. She simply could not forget the joyful pup that used to come by and play all day. Maybe I could find him again as well.

"I’ll do everything I can to make her happy." Julian said serious.

"You’d better, son." My dad added.

We packed my stuff and we moved it to Julian’s house. Of course, it took us all day to do so and at the end of the day, Jasper stopped by.

"So." He said. "You two haven’t killed each other yet, it’s good. You’re even moving in together."

"Julian is right." I explained. "I think we need to be together to find our own dynamic and accept our bond."

"I’m happy for you two really." My friend smiled. "So, I have a Beta couple now but no Gamma."

"My father will be Gamma until he founds his replacement. I think he hopes we will have pups soon so he can delegate to one of them." I said with a smile.

"But we’re not there yet." Julian intervened.

"No, we’re not. We’re a long way from pups." I confirmed.

I still was not sure if I forgave him for hurting me like he did and he was probably also not ready to forgive himself. We had a long road ahead of us.

"You’re young so take your time you two." Jasper said. "I’m not even mated yet."

I knew how hard it was on him just by looking at him. I wanted to take his hand but Julian would not like it so I refrained. I would definitely hit him if he did that with a female and probably dump his ass.

"You will one day." Julian said, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know. I thought I would be the first though considering both your personalities…" He chuckled.

"Hey." I pouted. "I’m way easier to handle than Julian."

He growled at me but I knew it was not out of anger. It was more as if he knew that he was not easy so he did not have an answer. Jasper chuckled at us both.

"You’re right Alice, he’s not easy but he’ll treat you well." Jasper said.

"He better." I smirked.

"There’s nothing I want more." Julian confirmed, his face softening.

I looked at him and smiled a little. Maybe we could truly make it work after all.